COMMUNALISM AND THE HISTORICAL LEGACY 5
Communal ideology perceives Indian society as constituted of a number of religious communities and the identity of Indian society is seen essentially in these terms. Attempts are also made to see the reality of Indian politics in terms of such religious communities. Politics is seen as the interaction of religious communities, and political allegiance relates to the same identity. Political action is designed to further the interests of a particular religious community. The notion of the religious community claims a historical basis and takes the identity of the community as far back in time as possible, so as to add to the legitimacy of the identity. Such identities are aimed at drawing in numbers of people.
This is therefore also an attempt to maintain the status quo in society and not allow the kind of change which will accommodate the aspirations of those who are deprived of resources and status, namely, the lower castes and the lower classes. Communal ideology is a diversion attempting to prevent radical movements. It ties in conveniently with a post-nationalist phase where the middle-class does not wish to see the widening of the social base providing access to power and resources. Communal ideology is antithetical to liberal and radical thought and action. Where it sees itself thwarted it does not hesitate to recruit the urban underclass or the lumpens in an effort at criminalising activities and thereby holding society to ransom.
The communalisation of Indian society has changed from the kind of communalism prevailing in the period prior to 1947 which was essentially a mechanism of political mobilisation. In the period since 1947 it is not only a mechanism for political mobilisation but has also come to pervade all aspects of life, particularly areas which are the most sensitive, such as education, the media, the forces of law and order and even contemporary culture in all its facets. Today the most evident communalism is that of what is called 'the majority community'. This does not preclude 'minority communalism', but because the numbers involved in the 'majority communalism' are so overwhel-ming, it is the most alarming. It is the communal ideology of the majority community which makes the maximum claim to Indian history legitimising communalism. However, historical analyses would question such a claim.
In looking at the past there are two perspectives which are interwined. One is the question of which theories of historical interpretatioit have encouraged a communal view of Indian society. The other question is what is the evidence or the historical perspectives which historians have ignored or neglected and which might provide a different view, and which might in turn have discouraged the claim to the historical legitimisation of communalism. Within this context and given the dominance of Hindu communalism today, I would like to examine two connected concepts: the notion of the Hindu religion and the notion of a Hindu community going back to earliest times.